Automatic actuating mechanism for key-operated machines.



Patenied not. 29. Ism.

D. MURRAY.

AUTOMATIC AGTUATING MEGHANISM FR KEY OPERATED MACHINES.

(Ap'pucatin mea Jan. 30, 1901.)

7 Sheets-'Sheet (No Model.)

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Patented uct. 29,'l9ol'.

7 Sheets-Sheet 2.

D. MURRAY.

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(Application led Jan. 30, 1901.) (No Model.)

Y INVENTR:

' zofny No. 635,427. Patented ouf. 29, |901.

n. MURRAY.

AUTOMATIC ACTUATING MEGHANISM FUR KEY OPERATED MACHINES.l

' (Application led Jan. 30, 1901.) `(No Model.)

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, 7Shee1s-Sheet 3.

No. 685,427. Patented oct. 29, |90.

` n. MURRAY. AUTOMATIC ACTUATING MECHANISMFR KEY PERATED MACHINES.l

. (Application filed Jan. 80, 1901.)

' 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 (No Model.)

lNVENTOR:

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WITNESSES no. 685,427. Patented-obi'. 29,- |9.n|. u. MURRAY.

Au'ror'aATlc AcTuATms mEcHAmsM Fon" KEY oPERA'rEn MACHINES.

(Application led Jan. 30, 1901.)

(No Model.) 7 Sheet's-Shee't 5.

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WITNESSES: INVENTOR N0. 685,427. Patented (lot. 29, |90l. D. MURRAY.

AUTOMATIC ACTUATING MECHANISM FOB KEY PERATD MACHINES. (Application mea Jan.. s. 1901.)

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D. MURRAY.

. Patented Oct. 29, |90l.

AUTOMATIC` ACTUATING MECHANISM FOB KEY OPERATED MMEHINES;

(Application led Jan. 30, 1901.)

(No Model.)

7 She8.ts-Shest 7.

Nira STATES ATEN'T Fries.

DONALD MURRAY, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

UTOMATIC ACTUATING MEcHANisM FOR KEY-OPERATED MACHINES.,

SLEECIFILCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 685,427, dated October 29, 1901.

Application tiled January 30,1901. Serial No. 45,330, (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may Concern,.- Be itknown thatLDONALD MURRAY,a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing in the city of New York, county and State of New York, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Actuating Mechanism for Key-Operated Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement upon the apparatus shown and described in my priorgranted patent, No. 638,591, dated December 5, 1899, where I have shown a means for operating a type-writer or other type-machine automatically by means of a perforated paper tape, this tape being produced either locally or telegraphically by another machine.

The objects of the present invention are to do away with the cord connection between the type-writer and the automatic controlling mechanism and to substitute a simple and positive metallic coupling which is not affected by changes in the atmosphere, to obtain a smooth and therefore rapid cam action by providing means for setting the combs for the next letter while the last letter is in the act of being printed, to provide means for adjusting and instantly varying the force of the printing stroke of the type-bars, to provide an'automatic brake acting at the end of each line or any predetermined point, and to provide means for putting more or less friction onthe slotted combs, so as to prevent the tendency to rebound and cause them to remain positively in the different positions to which they are shifted.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

- Figure 1 is an end elevation of the improved machine embodying my invention. a front elevation of the same, partly broken away and showing the type-Writer keys in secslotted combs. Fig. Sis an enlarged vertical `best seen in Figs. 8 and 9. `ries. of cross-bars l equal in number to the `keys of the type-writer or other type-ma- They are pivoted at 2 on the piece o,

Fig. 2 isA Fig. 9 is an enlarged vertical sec- Fig. 10 is an en- Fig. 11 is an end elevation of the brake mechanism. tion of the brake mechanism on the lines L M, Figs. 10 and 11. Fig. 13 is a cross-section of 'the brake mechanism on the line OP, Fig. 12.

Fig. 14 vis an enlarged detail showing a front zelevation, partly in section, of the metallic coupling between the automatic controller and the type-machine. Fig. 15 is a front elevation, partlyin section, of a modilied -brake mechanism. Fig. 16 is a detailed section of the tape-carriage mechanism. Fig. 17 is a portion of the perforated controllingtape.

The action of the improved mechanism is There are a sechine. attached to the frame of the machine b, and move in a slot-ted guide-bar 4:. They are supported by a universal bar 5, which is controlled by a cam 6, Fig. 9. The cross-bars 1 are supported just clear of the combs 3. These combs, one of which is shown in end view and plan in Fig. 7, are diierently slotted. Provision is made for their lengthwise motion to the extent of one tooth, or about one-sixteenth of an inch, on the bed e of the frame of the machine b. This motion takes place as the result of the pressure ofthe paper controllingtape tagainst the ends ot the rods 7, which project from the ends of the combs. When one or more of the combs 3 are moved under the action of the paper tape, the slots in the combs are so alined that any required crossbar 1 and only one cross-bar at a time is at liberty to drop into the alined Vslots when the universal bar 5 moves away under the action of the cam 6, Fig. 9. The cross-bar 1 then moves forward under the tension of the spring 8. The type-writer or other type-machine is shown in dotted outline in Figs. 1, 2, and 8. In Fig. 8, 9 is a key of the type-machine pivoted at 10 and held up by a spring 11.

Fig. 12 isa cross-sec- IOO 12 is the usual wire rod connecting the key to the type-bar of the type-writer. Folded over the key 9 and riveted to it at 11i is a thin metal plate 13. This is shown more clearly in section in Fig. 14. This double plate also carries two rivets 15 and 16. Hanging on rivet 16 is a small hook 17, which is held back between the two blades of the guidepiece 19, fixed to the end of the cross-bar 1 by spring 18, which is very much lighter and weaker than spring S. Rivet 15 prevents hook 17 from jumping out of place. When under the action Ofxthe controlling-tape and the cams the cross-bar 1 moves forward into the alined slots in the combs, it throws the hook 17 forward under the universal bar 2O of the striker 2l, the spring 8 being much stronger than the spring 18. The striker 21 is rigidly connected to the shaft 23, which is supported by the arms d of the framework b. To shaft 23 is also rigidly connected the arm 24, carrying the cam-roller 25, which engages in the groove of the cam 22, which is keyed to the revolving shaft 30. 17 has been thrown forward under bar 20, the cam 22 brings the striker 21 into action, thereby engaging the universal bar 2O with the hook 17 and positively depressing the key 9 of the type-writer or other type-machine. The moment the hook 17 has become engaged with the bar 2O the cam 6, Fig. 9, moves back the supporting-bar 5, which lifts the cross-bar 1 out of the alined slots in the combs and also frees the combs from the pressure ot' all the cross-bars. The moment this takes place the combs are free to move and the operation of resetting them for the next letter may proceed concurrently with the striking by striker 2l and cam 22 of the letter just selected. This is rendered possible, first, by the lower end of the connection 17 being made in the form of a hook adapted to lock into the rounded lower edge of the universal bar 20, and, second, by the hook 17 being arranged, as shown, so as to be affected by the forward motion, but not by the backward motion, of the cross-bar 1.

The arrangement described permits a better shape, and therefore smoother action and faster speed of operation, of the cam 22, because this cam under the new arrangement has no longer to finish its stroke while the cross-bar 1 is thrown forward, as was the case with the arrangement described in my prior patent, No. 638,591. The cam 6, Fig. 9, controlling the supporting-bar 5, has to act in about one-third of the total revolution of the shaft 30, and the cam 22 under the old arrangement had to act within the same period. This made the action of cam 22 rather abrupt. By allowing cam 22 to distribute its operation over the whole revolution of the shaft 30-a result rendered possible by the improved arrangement just described-the action is made much smoother, and greater speed of operation is thus possible.

When the hook To secure parallelism in the action of the supporting-bar 5, there are two cams like 6, Fig. 9. These are shown more clearlyin Figs. 3 and 4. The supporting-bar 5 is carried by the rods 3l, upon which are the short adjustable arms 28, held in position by lock-nuts and carrying at their ends the cam-rollers 2f).

32 represents guide-posts for the rods 3l. 33 represents also slotted guide-pieces for the supporting-bar 5. The bar 5 is covered with with a strip of leather 58 to reduce the noise at the points where the bar comes in contact with the cross-bars l.

Turning again to Fig. 8, the force of the blow for printing delivered by-the striker 21 can be regulated'for individual keys by the turnbuckles 3l; but some practically instantaneous means for varying the force of the stroke of all the keys is required, because with the same force the printing is considerably lighter at a high speed of ninety or one hundred words a minute lthan it is at a low speed, such as forty or fifty words a minute. 1t is desirable, therefore, to have means of instantly varying the force of the printing impression in accordance with the speed. It is also desirable to be able to increase the force of the printing blow when manifolding. To accomplish this, I provide means for slightly raising or lowering the type-writer by means of a shaft and two small cams controlled by a handle For this purpose the type-writer may be regarded as pivoted on the two back pillars 26. The tops of the two front pillars are bored out to take the short cylinders 36. These also rest in holes 37 in the feet of the type-writer, which usually hold rubber supporting-blocks. These rubber blocks are removed from the four feet of the type-writer 3S 39 and put under the base of the machine,

as shown at 40 and 4l. Through the frame, over the front 'feet of the type-writer, a hole is bored to carry a screw-bolt 4:2. This provides a permanent adjustment by raising or lowering the typewriter relatively to the cylinders 36. For quick adjustment by means of the handle 35 the cylinders 36 rest on small cams, shown in dotted outline, on the shaft 13 at the top ofthe front pillars 27. This cam mechanism is more clearly shown in Fig. 3. The two cams ist are pinned to the shaft A13 and are operated by the handle 35. Raising or lowering the handle slightly raises or lowers the type-writer by raising or lowering the cylinders 36 and so increases or decreases the force of the printing impression.

The combs 3 have a tendency to rebound when theinachine is operated rapidly. In order to understand this difficulty and the means taken to overcome it, a brief description must be given of the tape-feeding mechanism. This isshown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The paper controlling-tape t, Fig. 2, passes around the iianged guide-roller 45 in front of la perforated die-plate 46, around the fianged roller 47, around the sprocket-wheel 48, and

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is finally thrown olf by the shield 49 and falls into a basket or other suitable receptacle.

The Ydie-plate 46, the sprocket 48, and the .onto the revolving cam-shaft 30. The calnroller is attached to the carriage 50, as shown in dotted outline in Fig. 3. The carriage as it moves inward carries the paper tape in front of the die-plate 46 up against the rods 7, attached to the ends of the combs 3, the rods 7 sliding in a small guideblock 56.- The paper tape, in addition to a central row of perforations to engage with the sprocket-wheel, is punched on one side with holes arranged in various combinations, as shown in Fig. '17, so that when the tape is moved forward against the rods 7 some of the rods strike againstthe tape and others enter the holes in the tape and pass through into the holes in the perforated die-plate 46, as shown in Fig. 16. The rods, with their corresponding combs,are pushed back about onesiXteenth of an inch or the width of one tooth of the combs. i ln this way various slots in the combs are alined and various cross-bars selected. The moment the cross-bars 1 are restored to their initial position by the supporting-bar 5 and the cams 6 the paper-carriage 50 moves outward anda thin plate at tached to the carriage-block 57 engages with the teeth on the under sides of the rods 7, Fig. '7, and restores the combs to their initial. position, ready to be set for the next letter. On the same shaft as the sprocket-wheel 48 is a ratchet-wheel, which when the carriage moves outward strikes against the xed pawl 51, attached to the end of projection f of the framework b. This causes the sprocketwheel to rotate and feed the tape forward a step. In Fig. 4 the details of the comb mechanism are clearly shown. The plates 59 and 60 limit the longitudinal motion of the combs, the distance between the ends of the combs and the plate 59 showing the total range of motion of the combs. The combs are held in place and move between rows of pins 61. The combs when suddenly moved against the plates 59 and 60 tend to rebound, thereby preventing the true alinement of the slots in the' combs with the cross-bars 1. This difficulty is overcome by putting more or less friction on the combs. My improved arrangement for this purpose is shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. Adjustable slides 63 cross the bed of the machine immediately under the combs 3. These slides have lugs 64, through which pass screws 65. Pressing the slidesu p against the screw-heads is a spring 66. Each slide carries a row of five pins 67. By turning the screws 65 in or out the slides 63 are moved in or out and the rows of pins 67 put more or less pressure, and therefore friction,

yrevolving on the shaft by a key 95.

on the combs, which are held up against this pressure by the stationary rows of pins 61. This arrangement 'only puts friction on the five inner combs. The two outside combs, the first and seventh, are capital and figure combs land are not operated directly by the tape, but by an intermediate mechanism which does not permit of their rebounding. The brake mechanism for stopping the machine automatically at the end of a line is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, but more in detail in Figs. 10, 11, 12, 13, and 15. This brake mechanism is designed to be thrown into operation by a special group of perforations in the controlling-tape. This group of perforations operates, as do the other groups representing letters of the alphabet, by selecting one of the cross-bars 1 by the mechanism already described. This crossfabar throws under the strikenbar 2O the hook 17 of an eXtra key 68 Y end of this spring is attached to the lever and the other end to the framework of the ma?I chine at 77, Figs. 2 and 3. The spring 78 keeps the pawl 70 up against Athe projection S6 of the stop 71. The lever 73 is U-shaped i at its lower extremity, Fig. 13, and is pivoted at the points 76. On the shaft 30 is a coned friction-clutch 81. It is free to slide lengthwise on the shaft 30, but is prevented from (Shown in Fig. 13.) The coned portion of this clutch is adapted to fit a hollow cone in the block 80, which is screwed onto the frame of the machine. On the outer end of the clutch, are ratchet-teeth which engage with corresponding ratchetteeth on the small pinion 84, free IOO IIO

to revolve on the shaft 30 and slightly re- 81 is a groove in which slides a collar 82T-Y The lever 73 is connected with this collar by the points of the two screws 83. Hence by moving the lever 73 outward the toothed portion of the clutch 8l can be thrown into engagement with the pinion 84, and when the lever 73 moves inward the clutch is freed from the pinion and the coned portion of the clutch engages with the hollow coned piece 80. A portion of the paper-carriage of the typewriter is shown in dotted outline at 79. The pinion is driven by the large gear-wheel 87 and the handle 88, Figs. 2, 3, and 8. When the necessary group of perforations on the controlling-tape has caused the key 68 to be depressed, the plate 69 strikes the pawl70, throwing it down out of engagement with the IISv A,are shown at 89, Fig. 15.

stop 7l. The lever 73 then flies inward under the action of the spring 75. The clutch Sl is disengaged from the pinion 84 and the coned portionof the clutch is wedged into the hollow coned piece 8O and the revolving shaft 30 is rapidly brought to a stop, the key 95 preventing the shaft from revolving in the clutch S1. Wvhen the machine is stopped in this way, the operator runs the type-writer 'carriage back and the end ,of the carriage strikes the top of the lever 73, as shown at 79. The lever throws the clutch out of engagement with the hollow cone 8O and into engagement with the pinion 84. At the same time the pawl rises into its place at the stop 7l, and the machine is ready to start again as soon as the gear-wheel 84 is rotated. In Fig. l() the clutch is engaged with the pinion 84s and in Fig. l2 it is engaged with the hollow cone 80. There are various devices available as brakes. For instance, a coned friction-brake may be applied direct to the shaft 30 without previous disengagement from the pinion Se; but arrangements of this kind, which abruptly stop the pinion and drivingwheel, jar the motive power and prevent running the machine at a high speed up to the end of each line. By the arrangement illustrated in this application, if manually operated, when the brake acts the operator suddenly feels the drivingwheel free and there is no unpleasant shock to the hand. The friction of the two cones SO and 8l is also the best possible way of rapidly absorbing the energy of and stopping the revolving shaft 30 with its cams, their inertia being quite considerable, as the speed of the shaft may equal ten revolutions per second. The arrangement has also the advantage that the machine is set going again bythe single act of running the type-writer carriage back, an operation that has to be performed in any case.

In Fig. l5 is shown a modification of this brake mechanism required when the machine is run by power instead of by hand. Preferably a small shunt-wound electric motor is used. The shaft and pinion of such a motor The pinion gears into a larger wheel 90, which on its inner side carries a hollow cone 91. The clutch 8l in this case is double-@oued to ease the starting as well as the stopping. The action is the same as in the preceding case. The motor being shunt-wound, the action of the brake in throwing the load on and off does not materially affect the speed of the motor.

In order to conveniently remove the combs 3 for cleaning and oiling, I have provided a cam-bar 92, pivoted at each end at 94- and capable of being rotated by the lever 93, Fig. 3. Upon turning the lever the cam-bar throws out the cross-bars l and allows the combs to be easily removed.`

VVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In an actuating mechanism for key-operated machines the combination with a keybar of a continuously-rotating motor-driven shaft therefor and a mechanical coupling between said shaft and said key-bar formed of two separable pivoted sections with means for engaging and disengaging said sections.

2. In an actuating mechanism for key-operated machines, the combination with a sesies of key-bars of a motor-driven shaft, a reciprocating universal bar operated thereby, a series of jointed, rigid, mechanical couplings between said bar and the respective keybars, means for engaging and disengaging any coupling with said bar and a suitable device for determining the desired coupling to be employed.

3. In an actuating mechanism for key-Operated machines the combination with a series of key-bars of a motor-driven shaft, a continuously-reciprocating, universal bar operated thereby, a series of hooked links for coupling said bar and the respective key-bars, a pivoted cross-bar for each such hook to engage the hook when moving in one direction only and means for selecting any single required cross-bar to be employed.

4. In an actuating mechanism for key-operated machines the combination with a series of key-bars of a motor-driven shaft and a series of jointed, rigid, mechanical couplings between said shaft and key-bars, a cross-bar for each coupling, and means for selecting and operating any given cross-bar and coupling; said means consisting of a series of differently-slotted, endwise-movable combs, and a perforated tape backed up by a reciprocating perforated die-plate.

5. The combination 0f a type-bar machine, an automatic actuating device therefor,means for engaging any type-bar with its corresponding member of the actuator and means for adjusting the distance between the type-bar mechanism and the actuating mechanism consisting of a cam-surface upon which the typebar mechanism is supported.

G. The combination in an actuating mechanism for key-operated machines of a motordriven shaft, a series of independent, keyoperating devices, and means for automatically disconnecting the driving-shaft and the motor.

7. The combination in an actuating mechanism for key-operated machines of a motordriven shaft, a series of independent, keyoperating devices, and means for automatically disconnecting the driving and driven parts, and applying a friction-brake to the driven part.

8. The combination in an actuating mechanism for key-operated machines of a motordriven shaft, a series of independent keyoperating devices, means for automatically disconnecting the driving and driven parts by throwing into action an independent operating device and said disconnecting device.

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V9. AThe combination in an actuating mechadjustably applying friction to the surface of anism for key-operated machines of a motorsaid combs to prevent rebounding.

driven shaft a series of type-bars means for g coupling angf type-bar and said shaft and a DONALD MURRAY 5 selecting device, including a series of eross- Witnesses:

bars, a group of dierently-slotted combs THEODORE L. CUYLER, J r.,

having longitudinal movement and means for A ANNA M. DONLEVY. 

